F.A.O. Patch

Empty yer PM box

But this is mine and dangermouse reply to your PM:

Fantastic, thank you both
:smt058 :smt026 :smt058 :smt026 :smt058


Every time I make space in my pm box it fills up again straight away at the moment :smt005 so anyone trying to pm me please do keep trying I`m making space regularly

If you do a class for terriers at some point will Milo be able to be shown as a Jack Russell as he is not a parson one and its only them that are actually recognised. But then you'd hardly look at Milo and think he was a poodle either

There will indeed be classes for the Terrier Group as well as well as individual Breed classes
As this is a virtual show and we are not KC affiliated we can be very flexible, and its all for fun anyway so JRTs will be able to enter the pedigree classes alongside their Breed recognised counterparts.

This is one of those `special` cases where a breed has been effectively split into two camps, one a working type with suitable size and build for that and the Show type.

There is some controversy over it and probably always will be as to which should be the `recognised` breed.
Rev John Russell who the Parsons Russell was named after, [ many years after he died ], never actually bred the leggier Show type which are named after him, his were the shorter variety, none of his dogs were KC registered but I think if they had been we would be seeing the working type in the show ring instead of the officially recognised leggy type we see there.

Therefore, I believe it is fair to allow both types to enter this competition as equals :

A] for the reasons above
B] Its a purely fun show so its not going to rock the Breed showing world from its foundations
C] As the one putting together the classes and the rules, I say they can both enter on equal footing

If we enter more than one class, will it matter if we use the same photos?

Absolutely no problem with that Hali
Each judge will consider photos entered only in the class they are judging at the time, irrespective of the same image or the same dog being in any other class at any other time.

There is no limit to the number of classes everyone can enter and no limit to the number of dogs entered in any one class so long as owned by the Dogsey member entering them, [ and so long as eligible for each class entered ie entering a Wolfhound in the Toy AV would`nt really work :smt037 ], and there are bound to be classes for which the same photo would be ideal

Great question, thank you for raising it :smt023

Entry to Childs Best Friend is open to all breeds and mixes, and will require dogs in Show Pose.

Our Judge for the class will be looking for Junior handlers stacking or free standing their dog in a show pose as proficiently as they can.

The privacy of children is very important so please blank out your Junior handlers visual identity by blurring the face or cropping photos suitably.

Our Judge is going to be considering handling skill, hence the dogs breed or mix is immaterial for this class.


Hi Patch,

Great to include juniors!!

This is a query for you and all companion dog show secretaries. Please don't take offence.

What is the difference between child's best friend and junior handler? My understanding was - and at some shows I'm right and others wrong - that best junior handler is about showing the dog and handling skills i.e pose; movement and showing the dog. Child's best friend is about the relationship between the child and the dog - the bonding; friendship and what child and dog have given to each other.

Judges and shows vary and this is a real bug bear.
I know other families share my confusion and get a bit frustrated as the kids need to know what's expected of them before they go in a ring. Recently we went to a junior handling and the judge looked at the relationship between dog and child and considerably less on formal showing skills. The next week the judge asked the kids to do some quite complex stuff - straight lines; triangles; posing the dog between her and the handler as she walked round the dog and handler (a bridge too far for most of the class). The folowing week in junior handling the judge asked for straight line followed by a stand; sit stay and down stay and finally recall (again a bridge too far for most of the class.)

I suppose what I'm moving on to is that shows should consider being clear about 2 classes - junior handling and child's best friend and maybe consider separate obedience. (..And maybe have both if the criteria is indeed different.)

Patch - I assume that the virtual show is just having child's best friend and no junior handler and the criteria for child's best friend is showing/handling.

Sorry to sound off on one of my bug bears. (Maybe this post should also be in the junior section in the companion members group as it is a big issue.) I would like to see shows doing both junior handling and child's best friend and enabling children who don't have handling skills but a special relationship with their dog to have a class where this is the criteria and those with handling a more competitive class that is skills based.

Kerena

At real shows, yes you are correct, Junior Handler is about handling skills and classes usually called Childs Best Friend are as you say about the bond / friendship etc.

For the Virtual Show I chose the title of Childs Best Friend mainly because a lot of parents not in the breed Show world might be put off by the title `Junior Handler` as the header , some might bypass it by thinking it was only applicable to children who do Junior Handling at breed shows so I wanted to make it more inviting for people to read the entry details and to give it a go in confidence rather than use a title which might put people off

I totally agree, it should be made very clear. With the Virtual show of course I can be clear about what a class entails each time

The first youngsters class is about handling but there will be a separate class based on showing companionship/bond/fun as well
The non-handling style class will have a fancy dress slant for the children, as I`m cautious of the visual identification side of it.
Most people can be completely comfortable about their childrens faces being shown but for any not keen on that I don`t want anyone to feel they can`t enter because of it, and it would spoil the pictures to blank out faces or crop heads off - that works fine for the show pose classes but would`nt look right for a more Novelty type class.

So we will be looking for youngsters in fancy dress for their second opportunity in the show - I`m planning on a Halloween theme, [ and timing hopefully ! ], for the youngsters so whether in costume with a mask, or face painting, the children`s identities will be protected while they are shown simply having carefree fun or snuggles with their dogs for the class

Heck, don`t apologise, your points are absolutely valid !


And thats what will be offered in the Virtual Show at least but it would be lovely if real shows would offer more classes to children, it would be so much more fun for them to be able to get more involved at a show than only one class

I felt it made sense to use a `recognisable` title for the first youngsters class in the Virtual show but which would`nt put people off having look at the details as explained above and it was`nt time yet to give advance details for the Halloween class but I think its worth letting the cat out of the bag in order to let everyone know that the first youngsters class is not all they will be getting to enter

Thanks, Patch. I wish all show secretaries and judges were as well thought out as you with regards to inclusion of juniors and what is expected of them. And being realistic.

Looking forward to seeing the young handlers and their best friends and here's to Halloween capers!!! Advance notice is always welcome - especially when children and animals are involved!!!

Hi Patch,

I've just relaised that half term is the week of 22nd October in our Authority and several others but is the week of the 29th in few others. Could we have advance details of what we need kids to do so we can get going with kids who are off the week of 22nd. It's such a great educational holiday activity for kids - making costumes; thinking of halloween games to play with their dog; taking photos and loading them onto the computer etc. (It's got a great deal of mileage for familes planning holiday activites!!!)

Take care

Kerena